What I’m Watching: Big Sky

Big Sky: Season 3, Episode 5 “Flesh and Blood” (B-)

For all the people who tend to get killed in a violent manner on this show, most of the series regulars seem to be immune to any real harm, like Poppernak, whose abduction by a gang of murderous bank robbers never truly put him in danger. Beau and Jenny were already all set to laugh it off by telling him that he was going to have to be fired for poor policework despite the fact that he could easily have been killed numerous times throughout the ordeal. But everyone on this show, particularly law enforcement officials, tends to be very easily distracted. With Cassie focused on flirtation with Cormac, it looks like Jenny and Beau might ultimately get together. Focusing on a romance hopefully won’t keep Beau from checking in on his daughter and her very confident stepfather, who managed to reassure Carla and then went right at Luke to get answers out of him. I do believe that Sunny would choose Walter over Buck if the need to make that decision came, but for now Buck appears to be on board with her plans, while Cormac is leading Cassie closer to Walter as Buck thinks he’s taking care of the latest threat. Though Donno was typically unsubtle about his violent intentions, he and Tonya did manage to join up with the camp after it had already started, also not being subtle by paying double so that they could join the party late. Things are about to converge out in the woods, and I have a feeling that the only one who’s really a match for Walter is probably Donno, should their paths ever cross.

Pilot Review: Flesh and Blood

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.

What I’m Watching: Person of Interest

Person of Interest: Season 1, Episode 19 “Flesh and Blood” (B+)

Now this was an exciting episode. There are plenty of reasons why this hour worked, but its main success was utilizing all of its assets in one fell swoop. Pairing up Detective Carter and Detective Fusco in a life-or-death situation where he was the only one she could trust was important since the two hadn’t had such a unifying moment up until now, and they’re still far off from discovering that they share mutual friends. Elias’ presence in this episode was accompanied by a fair deal of mob personalities, including his previously-seen father, played by Mark Margolis of “Breaking Bad,” seen here too in a flashback to a time when he spoke more and had fuller hair, Paul Schulze, best known as Chappelle on “24” and also seen on “Nurse Jackie,” and Vincent Curatola, immortalized as another mobster, Johnny Sack, on “The Sopranos.” The abduction of Carter’s son paved the way for Reese to work his magic and come in guns blazing to rescue him and prove his loyalty to Carter, but she did a pretty good job (literally) pulling out the big guns and defending those she had sworn to protect, even if they weren’t eager for her protection. Finch’s sitdown with Simmons was risky, but it turned out to be less of a deal with the devil than parterning with Elias had been, and now HR might feel like they owe Finch and Reese a debt. Another subtle strength of this episode was the scene in which Reese assured Finch that the only role he needed to play was that of the getaway driver.